One of the most important decisions Mike Sullivan will make in his first training camp as New York Rangers coach is where Mika Zibanejad best fits in the lineup. Does the longtime center remain in the middle? Or are the Rangers best served with Zibanejad playing right wing on a line centered by J.T. Miller ?
Sullivan hasn't spoken publicly since he was introduced as the 38th head coach in Rangers history in early May. However, he recently shed some light about his plan for Zibanejad in comments published by NHL.com .
"I would envision us exploring that combination to see if they can potentially build on the chemistry that they've already built," Sullivan said about playing Zibanejad and Miller on the same line.
Zibanejad was his most productive last season skating on the wing after the Rangers acquired Miller from the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 31. Though Zibanejad dipped to 20 goals and 62 points in a largely disappointing season overall, he finished strong with 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 32 games after the Miller trade.
Miller, who struggled with the Canucks before the deal, had 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 32 games with the Rangers.
Though they weren't exclusively linemates, it's clear both Zibanejad and Miller thrived playing together. Zibanejad shared that opinion with Sullivan, when the new coach traveled to Sweden for a face-to-face meeting not long after he was hired by the Rangers.
"As part of that conversation one of the things he expressed to me is even though he lined up on the wing on the face-offs, he felt they were interchangeable in the sense that they could read off each other," Sullivan explained. "They both have a comfort level playing down low in the defensive zone. They both have a comfort level in the face-off circle with one being a righty and one being a lefty. He expressed that to me."
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Getting Zibanejad situated is the first major domino to put into place at training camp. Once the 32-year-old is settled on a line, the rest of the forward line combinations can take shape.
Should Sullivan keep Zibanejad and Miller on the same line, the Rangers would load up in their top six and face serious questions about how to fill out the bottom six, specifically the third line. Juuso Parssinen and Jonny Brodzinski are the top candidates to center the third line in this lineup. Taylor Raddysh , Brennan Othmann , Gabe Perreault , Brett Berard , and Conor Sheary are among the options to play on the wings of the third line.
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One of Parssinen or Brodzinski could also play on the wing. And Sam Carrick could move up from the fourth line to be the 3C. However, he's likely best suited on the fourth line between the towering duo of Matt Rempe and Adam Edstrom .
Perhaps putting left wing Will Cuylle on the third line would help balance the lineup. But coming off his first 20-goal season, it feels like Cuylle is ticketed for a top-six role.
If Sullivan spreads out his centers, the Rangers could be among the deepest teams down the middle in the NHL, with Miller, Zibanejad, and Vincent Trocheck as their top three, along with Carrick.
"Those are three pretty high-quality centermen," Sullivan said. "I think it's going to play itself out, but certainly the conversations I've had with Mika to this point I would envision us exploring keeping Mika with J.T."
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